


Show Me a Sign

by imapirahana98



Series: Space Signs [1]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: ASL, American Sign Language, Cuban Lance (Voltron), Cuban Sign Language, Fighting, Hunk & Lance (Voltron) Friendship, Hunk is the best and deserves more tbh, I did my best to honor that, Lance siblings, Not really graphic violence but I wanted to tag it just in case, Space Battles, csl, deaf lance, discount daleks, discount skeletons
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-13
Updated: 2018-04-13
Packaged: 2019-04-21 11:38:38
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,793
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14284113
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/imapirahana98/pseuds/imapirahana98
Summary: Lance blacks out temporarily as the blast hits him in the head. His helmet is knocked off and his vision clears just in time to see the castle send out an ion blast taking out the rest of the Dalek wannabes. It's also just in time for the blast to connect with the surface of the metal planet, causing a huge, LOUD explosion.After the explosion subsides, Lance stands shakily. As he takes a step, he freezes realizing he can't hear the sound of his metal boots on the metal surface. In fact, he can't hear anything at all.--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Or the Voltron AU, where Lance is a hearing child that comes from a Deaf family. What happens when an explosion bursts his eardrum causing him to go deaf in space?





	Show Me a Sign

**Author's Note:**

> A quick note to help you understand the languages before you read: 
> 
> ASL is in italics words separated by the hyphen (-) and if a word is being finger spelled it looks like T-H-I-S. In some places it may look like a I forgot to put a hyphen between words, but that is because the sign is directional, meaning that it shows what/who you are referring to. As an example the sign ‘help’ is the dominant hand in a thumbs up position placed on top of your non dominant hand held palm up. By moving it from your chest area towards the person you are signing with, that indicates ‘I help you’. If done in the reverse direction, starting with the sign held away from the body and moved towards your chest, that means ‘you help me’. If someone is speaking out loud it’s regular dialog in quotations (“”) and if it’s over the comms it’s italicized in dialog. 
> 
> Enjoy reading! (I hope)

Lance grunted as Blue took another blast to the side. 

 

_ “Paladins! Hurry! The castle can’t take much more of this heavy fire!” _ Allura desperately called through the coms. 

 

They had received a distress beacon from a nearby planet almost entirely made of a dense black metal with intricate interlocking parts. For once, it was not the Galra attacking, rather a sentient army of cyborg looking things. As much as Lance liked Dr. Who, he really didn’t want to fight real life Daleks.

 

_ “Hunk I need your help!” _ Keith’s raspy voice screamed as he took more heavy fire. 

 

_ “On my way.”  _ Hunk replied.

 

The hardest part about fighting these wanna be Daleks was that they were so much smaller than Galra fighters, yet they’re laser fire was almost as powerful. Not to mention it was hard to hit tiny moving objects. Lance locked onto another group and systematically took them all out, helping protect Pidge’s left flank.

 

But that of course left him right open to be hit again. The flash of light, the impact, and the sirens warning of all the system malfunctions. Blue let out a pained whine and his heart shattered at how bad it was. 

 

The most concerning thing however, was that his long and close range blasters were damaged. He could probably still shoot with them, but the accuracy would be worse than a baby trying to throw a ball through a hoop.

 

Looking around desperately for anything that could help him, his eyes landed on one of the broken cyborgs on the ground below. It’s systems were down, but its firing mechanism was still powered up. Maybe...maybe he could get outside and use that to take out the rest of these guys?

 

Making up his mind, with Blue’s encouragement, he opened up the escape hatch and climbed out. Jumping off he used his jetpack to quickly get to the downed century. He landed with a loud clang next to it, and working quickly dislodged the blaster thing it used. 

 

Ok most weapons were pretty easy for him to use once he figured out the trigger, aim, and firing power. He already new the aim and fire power, now he just needed the trigger. Looking closely he found the firing mechanism. Taking aim at one of the cyborg groups, he pulled the trigger and nearly fell on his butt from the recoil.

 

...He may have underestimated the fire power. But the cyborg group was now just blasted pieces of smoking metal so he was calling it a win. 

 

_ “Guys I need back up over here! They’ve got me fully surrounded.” _ Shiro yelled.

 

Turning to his left, Lance locked onto the closest cyborgs by Shiro’s right flank, widened his stance, and fired. This time he was able to control the recoil more, but he was definitely going to have a bruise on his shoulder after this. 

 

Lance continued blasting group after group until they were all smoking piles of metal and Shiro could finally go and help the others. 

 

_ “LANCE watch out! _ ” Pidge’s voice screamed. 

 

Lance turned just in time to see the laser blast coming directly for his face. The impact completely threw him over knocking his now cracked helmet off. His vision was swimming with black waves and everything sounded muffled. 

 

He looked up just in time to see the castle send out an ion blast that destroyed the rest of the cyborg army. It impacted with the heavy metal in a burning flash of light that Lance turned away from. But that was nothing compared to the sound that soon followed. A booming thunderous screech of metal, tearing, and explosions. Lance clamped his hands over his ears in an attempt to block it out, but he knew it wasn’t doing much compared to their helmets that had built in sound protection. 

 

The ground rolled in waves and vibrations under him making his senses even more overwhelmed. 

 

Lance curled into a ball waiting for everything to settle down. He remembered in middle school when they were learning about earthquakes, that they didn’t last more than a minute, but it often felt like 5 or 10 minutes would pass by while you would duck and cover for protection. If you started counting slowly, it would help ward off the panic. So he slowly began counting.

 

By the time he got up to 30, the majority of the shaking and sound had stopped. He slowly opened his eyes thankful that he was still able to see. As he stood up though, his vision blackened to the point where he couldn’t see anything more than blurry shapes. The pressure in his head was painful, but after a few moments it began to clear. 

 

He desperately hoped that it was only because he got up too fast. He grabbed his helmet and slowly made his way back to the blue lion. It was only part of the way there when he realized something was wrong. He took another step and stared at his feet. 

 

His metal boots against a metal covered planet should definitely be making a lot of noise.

 

He snapped his fingers. He didn’t hear that either.

 

He did it closer to his ear. Nothing. 

 

That was not good. He picked up the pace to get back to Blue. He wouldn’t be able to tell if they could hear him or not, but he at least wanted to give them a warning if possible.

 

_ “Hey guys, I can’t hear anything right now. When I got blasted in the head it knocked my helmet off and I think that last explosion hurt my ears. I’m getting in Blue now, so I’ll be there soon.”  _

 

The words felt a little weird in his mouth considering he could only feel the vibrations, rather than his voice. But he knew it was right. His little sister used to put her hands on his throat and face to feel the different types of vibrations his voice would make when he talked. So he knew which ones he had to make for the write letter or word. 

 

He had spent hours helping her with her speech therapy to the point that he could also recognize the type of letter or word being said based off of the vibrations. They had a lot of fun with it too. Coming up with weird patterns or changing what part of the face, throat or chest the sound was coming from, and even making up games with it. 

 

A pang of homesickness washed through him as he shakily landed the Blue lion in his hanger. As he stumble out he pushed it aside as best he could. He had other things to worry about right now. He saw Hunk running up the connecting hallway between the Yellow and Blue Lion hangers, Coran following close behind. 

 

Lance called out “Did you guys hear me?”

 

Hunk nodded his head in the affirmative before signing  _ I help-bring-you-hospital _ . Lance signed  _ O-K  _ back before Hunk slung one of his arms around his shoulders, while Coran got his otherside. He was grateful for the stabilization as they made their way to the healing pods.

 

Once there, he stripped down into his boxers and put on a healing suit. Thankfully Hunk kept a hand on his arm to stabilize, otherwise Lance is sure he would have fallen.

 

Stepping in he took a deep breath to steady himself before closing his eyes to the world.

  
  
  


\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

As he was frozen in cryosleep, his mind drifted. Memories randomly flashing by. 

 

Lance was born and raised in a Deaf family. Everyone in his family was Deaf, except for him. His mamá and papa had taught all four of their children American Sign Language, Cuban Sign Language, Spanish, and English. 

There was a flash of his family driving away after dropping him off at the Garrison, everyone waving with their pinkies, pointer fingers, and thumbs up. The sign for I love you the last thing he saw before they turned towards the highway.

 

He remembered learning for the first time that his family wasn’t normal. He had always thought that everyone just communicated with their hands or by writing things down. At least, that was until he went to kindergarten for the first time. None of the kids understood what he was saying at first, and Lance had to be put in an afterschool program to help learn how to speak and communicate with other hearing people properly.

 

There was a funny memory of Hunk’s confused face the first time he had accidently signed to him instead of spoken out loud. 

 

Then it was helping Hunk learn sign language after he had decided to take it at the Garrison. 

 

Mixing up ASL and CSL signs when hanging out with some of his Deaf American friends. That was always a little confusing…

 

Mixing up English and Spanish words when hanging out with some of his hearing friends. That was still confusing…

 

Literally mixing everything up because what even was language?

 

A small scene played out of him signing to Keith in CSL on the Balmera and only being met with a blank stare. Lance was still confident that it had been his great idea that led them to winning though.

 

Soon though, the scenes began to fade and his subconscious was overtaken by his conscious. 

 

\------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

Lance woke up slowly. He always hated this part of being in a cryopod.

 

To him it felt like slowly coming out of a dream, except that he had no control over what was going on. It was like all of his systems were coming online one at time and it always left him feeling vulnerable, like he couldn’t process exactly what his body was doing. 

 

He stumbled forward only to be enveloped in a warm hug that could only belong to Hunk. He smiled, hugging back. Hunk’s hugs always made him feel better and it was a balm to his slushied thoughts. 

 

He felt a vibrating hum from Hunks chest and he looked up smiling. Hunk’s lips moved, and Lance felt the vibrating hum again. He knew that Hunk had asked if he was ok, but what was starting to freak him out more, was that he hadn’t  _ heard _ it. 

 

Hunk’s smile fell, probably reading the look on his face. He mouthed “What’s wrong?” and again it was only the vibrating hum and lip movements. 

 

Trying not to panic Lance said “I can’t hear you.”

 

Hunk’s worried face, turned to one of clear concern before he called over his shoulder. He turned back signing,  _ C-O-R-A-N - help you.  _

 

Nodding Lance followed Hunk towards one of the check up tables, and sat down. Coran held a scanner to his head moving his lips but Lance couldn’t understand what he said. Probably something along the lines of “Why when I was your age, I got bit by a gerthanion blareuks! Now those little guys leave a mark!” 

 

Lance turned to Hunk,holding his hands palm up and shrugging his shoulders with a confused expression.  _ What?  _ He signed

 

_ Don’t know  _ Hunk replied. Tapping the side of his head with the tips of his four fingers before moving them out and downward in a small sweeping motion.

 

Lance had a suspicion his guess was fairly accurate.

 

Next Coran picked up something resembling an otoscope that doctors back on Earth use to look inside ears. 

 

Lance sat patiently, and when Hunk flinched he made a questioning expression. Hunk signed back,  _ loud sound- hurt. _

 

Coran stepped back and began writing down something in the computer before, walking over to another machine. He began inputting commands, and after hitting what Lance assumed to be the alien version of the ‘enter’ key, stood there waiting. Then  a compartment like that of an atm, opened. Coran reached down pulling something out before flourishing a clear vial, filled with a glowing pink liquid. 

 

Again his mouth began to move, but Lance couldn’t understand any of it. Which was weird. He could normally get a few words, even if he couldn’t understand everything that was being said. It was then Lance realized why. Coran was speaking Altean. Lance had no idea how to lip read any Altean. He always relied on the translators when it came to that, and now he was sincerely regretting it.

 

Lance looked to Hunk desperately.  _ Interpret- please. _

 

Hunk nodded before beginning to translate.  _ You’re- ear- hurt- but - fix- with- pink- medicine. One- D-R-O-P -each ear- morning- night- for- one week.  _

 

Lance let out a sigh of relief. Being Deaf wan’t a disability. He knew that from his family and all that they could do, but having to adjust to being Deaf while in the middle of a giant space war? That would be very difficult. 

 

Lance quickly clarified that he understood correctly, before taking the vial from Coran with a smile and spoken “Thank you”. 

 

He stood and walked with Hunk to the kitchen. Cryopods always made people ravenous and he was in the mood for some specially made comfort food.

 

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

As they entered the kitchen, Lance was enveloped in a small group hug from everyone else on the team. Before they all sat down to the bowls of food goo in front of them.

 

Lance sat down, being ordered to do so by Hunk. Before Hunk went over to grab food for both of them. 

 

Lance looked out at everybody, marveling a little at not being able to hear anything. When he was little and learning what it meant to be hearing and not deaf, he had tried to understand what it felt like for his parents and siblings to move through the world. 

 

He tried wearing earplugs and earmuffs together for an entire day, and he tried talking to them underwater, and he even tried putting actual candle wax in his ears. His parents were not very happy about that last one, considering they had to take him to the doctor to get it all out. But they still smiled and kissed his cheek when he explained why.

 

Now, he couldn’t help but smile. All the other times, he could still hear some noises and sound no matter how muffled they were. But now, there was just nothing. He hummed a little and only felt it. 

 

He glanced around, going from face to face, watching as their mouths moved. He couldn’t understand a single thing being said. He realized how silly he must look smiling so wide and goofy about not being able to hear anything, but he couldn’t help it. He had always wondered what it was like. And now he actually knew. 

 

It was then he noticed, everyone at the table no longer talking, staring at him. He saw Shiro mouth his name “Lance, what .............?”. And he realized they must have asked him something and he hadn’t responded at all. 

 

“I still can’t hear you guys but I should be ok in a week.” He said. Their eyes widened, before Pidge turned to Allura asking something. Allura also looked puzzled before turning and seeming to call something to...someone. Maybe Coran? Probably. 

 

As Coran came strolling through the door, he smiled to himself a little at being correct. He saw a bowl put in front of him, as Hunk sat down with his own soup. Lance smiled and gladly picked up a spoon, humming happily at the comforting taste. 

 

Hunk tapped his shoulder, getting his attention before signing I- translate.  _ P-O-D-S-not- work.- Why?- They- don’t know- H-U-M-A-N- ear- good. Can’t- fix.  _

 

Lance looks confused for a moment before he realizes that Hunk is translating what everyone else is talking about for him. He is suddenly very grateful that his friend decided to learn sign language at the garrison. 

 

_ “Thank you. Soup- great!- happy”  _ Lance responds. 

 

Hunk smiles and they continue talking. Lance asks to make sure that he’s ok after the battle, before they go on about the new schematics for a tortilla making device they had been working on for the past week. 

 

Hunk turns his head though to look at Shiro, holding up a finger, the  _ one moment _ sign for Lance. 

 

Hunk then starts signing while he talks, answering Shiro’s question while ensuring that Lance isn’t left out. 

 

Hunk is the best, and Lance is so grateful that he is here with him. 

 

_ I-help you- communicate- interpreter. I - not- here- use- gestures- computer- paper- pen.  _

 

Nodding in understanding, Lance turns to address everyone. “I can still speak, I just can’t hear you guys. If you need to get me attention, tap my shoulder, turn the lights on and off or make some sort of gesture in my field of vision. If you try to yell or bang pots I won’t hear you at all.”

 

Everyone nods, and Allura says something to Hunk. 

 

_ You- need- help.*questioning* -Not- fear *relaxed*.- They- want- help you. *smile/reassuring* _

 

“Thank you Allura. I will do my best to keep that in mind. If it helps at all, I can read very simple English and Spanish phrases on the lips. But we won’t need to do that if we just use computers or gestures.” 

 

They all talked a little longer working out the schedule for the rest of the week since Lance wouldn’t be able to hear it over the castle communicator system. 

 

They’re planning on laying low, working on fixing the castle and lions after their battle, and recuperating themselves. Once everything the castle and lions are fixed, hopefully Lance will have all of his senses back. Then, they can go to the next string of planets they plan to add to the coalition. 

 

That night, everyone fell into bed exhausted and looking forward to being able to relax a little for the rest of the week. 

 

But Murphy’s law had something to say about that.

 

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

The first two days were fine. Lance spent most of his time with Hunk and Pidge as the trio repaired their lions and worked on their tasks for fixing the castle.

 

On the third day, he went and trained with Shiro and Keith for a few hours. They got a lot of good practice with their combat hand signals and by the end they were able to work together almost seamlessly. 

 

They created a sort of touch and signal based technique, where they would tap on a certain shoulder with each number representing something else. “Enemy at 2 o’clock” “Move right” “Flank” and when they weren’t in reaching distance of each other they would use hand signals they had all learned at the Garrison, and the added ones they had created. 

 

Towards the end, Allura had walked in and immediately asked to be taught the technique, which led to a whole team training session. By the end of the day, they were all working fairly well together against one of the training sequences. And they didn’t even have to talk once. 

 

Coran and Allura were ecstatic about the increased possibilities of working stealth missions. 

 

Meanwhile, Lance found himself exhausted but satisfied that he would still be able to fight if there was an emergency or if he had actually lost his hearing permanently. 

 

That night he slept peacefully, glad that the rest of the team had taken the time to learn how to still talk and listen to him even if he couldn’t hear them.

 

And it was on the fourth day that Murphy decided to pay them a visit by having the castle go haunted house on them. 

 

\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

Lance had been training with Keith again when all of the lights turned a weird dark orange. Fog slowly creeped in through the vents, enveloping everything in the room. Within seconds, Lance couldn’t see anything from how thick the fog was, and Keith had only been standing a few feet away when the lights dimmed. 

 

Lance’s heart rate spiked, he was now blind and deaf and if something was attacking them he would have almost no way of knowing where or what they were. 

 

Additionally, the thick fog was making it hard to breath and he could feel his panic mounting.

 

Just then he felt something brush his arm and before he could react it grabbed on and he was suddenly face to face with Keith. 

 

Keith mouthed something, but Lance just shook his head in confusion. Keith tried gesturing, pantomiming putting on a helmet and putting something in his mouth. “You want to get filtering helmets?”

 

Keith nods quickly and Lance asks “Do you know where they are? I can’t see or hear anything.”

 

Keith shakes his head ‘no’, before it snaps to the side. His eyes going wide. Lance looks in the same direction but he still can’t hear anything. 

 

Lance is about to ask him what it is, when Keith holds a finger up to his lips, quieting him. Lance mouths and signs ‘ _ What?’ _ at the same time hoping Keith will get it. Keith makes a grumpy looking face while holding his hands out in the classic ‘I’m a monster scaring a little kid pose’, then pointing in the direction he had whipped his head. 

 

So there was a monster over there? Lance hoped he understood that right. 

 

Keith then makes the ‘back to back’ hand signal before summoning his bayard and lining up with Lance’s back. Lance summons his own bayard holding it up to the foggy mist surrounding them. Lance has the stray thought that it’s an airborne poison, but it hasn’t had any adverse effects yet so he pushes the thought aside and focuses on what’s happening right then. 

 

Two taps on his right elbow, four on his right shoulder. Lance holds his blaster at eye level and fires twice at his four o’clock. 

 

One on his right elbow, 3 on his left shoulder. He turns holding his bayard over Keith’s ducked shoulder, and fires once at Keith’s 3 o’clock.

 

Keith darts and disappears into the fog for a moment before reappearing, his blade glowing with a slimy blue liquid.

 

Then the fog begins to recede slowly, sucked into the castle air vents, and Lance desperately hopes it was because Allura or Hunk or Pidge figured out how to ventilate it out of the rooms. 

 

As the last of the fog clears, Lance’s eyes widen in surprise and fear at the small army of twenty surrounding them. 

 

Eight foot tall, thin, blue skeletal creatures stare back, glowing swords held in tight grips. Lance swallows before sinking into a more steady stance and then with a tap to Keith’s side, opens fire on the alien creatures. 

 

He aims for their eyes until he feels Keith tapping on his elbows and shoulder again, and suddenly it’s like the training sequences they had just been drilling. They work in a sort of dance, transitioning between close and long range combat depending on which way they face and how close the creatures are. Soon, none of the skeletons are left standing.

 

Breathing heavily Lance and Keith take a moment to relax and catch their breath, before they are on the move towards the bridge. As they stealthily make their way through the halls, they take out any skeletons they come across leaving a trail in their wake. 

 

When they make it to the bridge they see everyone else struggling and very nearly overwhelmed by the skeletons. The team looks like they are shouting and yelling, and Keith tries to signal they need to stop talking. When that doesn’t work, Lance takes out the immediate skeletons around Hunk before signing to him  _ Must- silence- tell- them _ Hunk quickly says something and everyone’s mouths stop moving thankfully. 

 

Keith and Lance fight their way to the rest of the team, and then they all start taking skeletons down. 

 

Lance has a suspicion that these creatures have excellent hearing but poor eyesight. Afterall, je just saw one walk into a wall. 

 

It would also explain that by not talking they are able to get more of an upper hand on the creatures. They’re definitely still making noises considering they are fighting a battle, but it is helping. 

 

Lance feels the signal on his elbow to switch with the person behind him, and 9 tapes on his shoulder. When he turns he opens fire at his 9 o’clock, mowing down a row of creatures. And when that’s done he signals to Pidge to break off and get another section with him.

 

Pidge's bayard flies out wrapping two skeletons together, then she activates the electricity turning the creatures into a smoking pile of bubbling flesh and burning bones. 

 

Pidge then taps on shoulder two shots twelve o’clock and before he knows it, the last skeleton is down. A

 

llura runs to the main controls, running a scan of somesort over the castle before giving the all clear signal. They all breath a sigh of relief before sitting down on the central dais around the energy crystal.

 

Lance zones out as people talk around him. He watches as they run scans checking to make sure the mysterious fog from before is dealt with. He sees the castle's cleaning machines activated, clearing the skeletons out of the rooms to be launched into space.

 

Shiro sits down next him and asks if he’s  _ O-K? _

 

Tiredly, Lance signs back  _ Fine-little- tired.  _

 

Nodding Shiro holds his pinkie and thumb out to form the ‘Y’ hand shape moving it between them,  _ Same. _

 

They sit together companionably as the last of the skeletons are cleared from the room, and the castle sensors give the all clear. 

 

That night, Lance tosses and turns dreaming of glowing blue skeletons chasing him.

 

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

Thankfully the rest of the week is spent cleaning the castle, setting up a new recreational relaxation area, training, swimming, and learning more ASL. By the second to last day he begins to hear some muffled noises but nothing distinct yet. 

 

He doesn’t want to admit how relieved he is to know his hearing is coming back. 

 

He knows that he could live and be happy without it, his family and team this week showing that, but he likes hearing people talk and sing. He loves hearing the intricate melodies in songs. And he wants to be able to talk to other alien races without having to use Hunk as a interpreter. He wants to hear the different types of music and instruments in space. 

 

As much as Lance wishes he could be completely ok not hearing anymore, he cant find it in himself to regret the return of his hearing. 

 

Late that night, while he and Hunk are working on the final touches to their tortilla machine, Hunk grabs his attention before signing  _ You- look- sad. What -happened?  _

 

Lance takes a moment to consider lying, but ultimately decides to use it as a way to explain his guilt. Sometimes it’s hard to tell when he’s getting into his head about something. Having someone else’s outside perspective helps to bring him out usually. 

 

After explaining, Hunk opens his arms in offerings of a hug, and Lance gladly takes it. As their machine starts making the first batch of tortillas (that for some reason are stripped pink and purple...they can fix that later) Hunk sits down with him. 

 

He pulls out his laptop, typing away on it before showing Lance the screen: “It’s ok to miss something you’ve lost and be relieved/happy when it comes back. We all have things that we care about, and when it’s taken away we feel sad and angry about it. But when we get it back you don’t have to be guilty about having something others don’t, especially if it’s something you can’t control. You were born hearing, and when you lose that ability then you feel sad about it. Which is ok. When you get it back, you feel happy. Which is also ok! It’s alright to feel guilty, but remember your family is happy and lives a great life without being able to hear. They experience things a little differently, but so do you. It’s part of what makes you, you. And your family loves you for that as you love them.”

 

Lance tears up a little. Despite still feeling like he should be a little guilty, Hunk’s explanation and encouragement makes him feel a lot better. He smiles before reaching over and hugging him again, signing  _ Thank you  _ when they break apart.

 

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

The next morning, Lance wakes to the beautiful sounds of music through his headphones and he smiles. He dances he way to breakfast, and hugs Hunk as tight as he can in happiness and thanks. 

 

Lance loves his space family, and misses his own Earth family, but when (not if, when) he returns to Earth, he knows that everyone, in all his families will be happy.

 

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you so much for reading! This work was inspired by [this](https://hannalu-art.tumblr.com/post/171037451577/what-if-lances-little-sister-was-deaf-and-they) adorable set of pictures by [HannaLu ](https://hannalu-art.tumblr.com/)on Tumblr please go check them out, they're a great artist!![Hannalu's Instagram! ](https://www.instagram.com/hannalu_art/)
> 
> If you can please drop a comment or kudos, they really make my day :) 
> 
> Also if I interpreted anything wrong, or you are a Deaf/hard of hearing person, please correct me! I know ASL and do my best to respect and understand the culture as much as possible, but it's hard to fully understand a culture if you are not fully apart of it.
> 
> Fun facts about Lance’s family and the ASL world in general!  
> 1) Hearing (the ability to hear sound) children who grow up in all Deaf families (until they get integrated into society) tend not to know that they can ‘hear’ and that the rest of their family cannot. Ex: Why’d everyone turn to pick up the spoon that just fell off the table? Hearing people tend to think it’s because they hear the clang when it drops, Deaf see the spoon fall off the table. So a hearing child in a Deaf family associates the clang and movement with the spoon drop, but they don’t realize that the rest of the family only turns because they saw it drop. 
> 
> 2)This can actually go the other way too with a Deaf child in a hearing family. They don’t know that everyone else can hear sound. They have no concept of what sound is. Some Deaf adults explain that when they were little they thought that everyone was just good at reading lips and would just mouth things to each other. It was only when they were older that they understood that this was not true.
> 
> 3)A large movement of oral teaching occurred during the past 200 yrs. Depending on what school you go to, this can have serious detrimental effects on a child's health and learning. Some schools would prevent children from signing at all inside and outside the classroom forcing them to speak.
> 
> 4)Speech therapy was mentioned in the story. In Lance's family they let their children pick if they want to get vocal coaching. When Lance's sister chose to and needed help learning how the sounds and vibrations correlated with each other, Lance was happy to help. He also made it a lot of fun so she enjoyed doing it with him as a sibling bonding sort of thing. There are reports from Deaf adults in our society explaining there experience as very hands on with their vocal coaches. They would put their hands on the teachers face and throat to feel the vibrations and how the sounds produced correlated to those vibrations.
> 
> 5) Why did I sometimes capitalize Deaf and sometimes not? deaf (uncapitalized) is the medical diagnosis for not being able to hear, Deaf (capitalized) refers to a person in the culture and community of Deaf people. You can be deaf but not Deaf which is kinda weird but true and happens to a lot of children taught with the oral method. They are deaf, but don’t know sign language. They are outsiders among the ‘normal’ population for being deaf and outsiders among the Deaf population because they can’t communicate like everyone else does. I’ve read a few stories about children and adults feeling rejected by the people they were forced to be like and rejected by the people who would have normally accepted them as a comrade.
> 
> 6) A lot of Deaf children in hearing families create a sort of separate gesture style language that only those close to them experienced in understanding the gestures can interpret. If you have any signals or gestures that you use with your family or close friends it’s similar to that. Example: a dad whistling loudly but with a certain tune to it that his family recognizes as ‘go over to dad to meet up’.
> 
> 7) So Lance has an older sister, a younger brother, and a younger sister in this story.
> 
> 8) All of their first languages were CSL or ASL. They tended to blend together though.
> 
> 9) I give kudos to any author who can actually describe what signs look like, because I suck at it. It’s so hard. How do hands even work?!
> 
> 10) I was looking up decibel levels that people lose hearing at, and the majority are related to sustained loud sounds like standing next to concert speakers. The exposure usually takes years to have a dramatic affect, but ear protection is still needed a lot. (Fyi, hair dryers were also on that list so be careful) I hadn’t realized this before, but the paladins helmets most likely have sound protection to help with all of the blasting and explosions that occur during a battle. So when Lance got his helmet knocked off he didn’t have that sound protection anymore and the subsequent explosion essentially shattered his eardrum.
> 
> 11) Keith actually already knew a little ASL. Why you may ask? That's a story for another time... :D


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